[Evermont]

I have a home gym, some free weights and bench which I hit hard every 2nd day. My neighborhood is pretty nice for walking with some challenging hills and great sunset views over Lake Champlain and the Adirondack mountains beyond. I try to walk everyday, 1.5 miles at least but 3-4 miles is ideal. When the weather is bad I can walk inside the massive complex where I work, miles of perfectly flat and straight halls but then there's stairs too - wohoo! I carry 3 lb dumbbells when I walk, or 10-20 pounds in a backpack. When I get to an uphill I walk as fast as possible, sometimes jog. I always crank my MP3 player while exercising.

Whenever it works out I'll skip my usual exercise for something really good, like 18 holes of golf on a ridiculously hilly course (never use a cart), or hike one of the many glorious hiking trails within an hours drive, paddle my canoe through the hundreds of spectacular waterways nearby, snowboarding nearly non-stop for 8 hours might be my favorite workout of all, the quads burn like they're on fire! Speaking of which, I like to swing a splitting maul for hours at a time - turn a huge pile of free pine logs into a huge pile of firewood. I like to keep a fire going while I work just 'cause I like the way it smells.

Obviously I agree with others here about variation, it's important not to dread your exercise. Better still, find ways to make it the best part of your days if you can.